This invention relates generally to a composition useful in processing and handling petroleum products containing asphaltenes, including crude oil.
Certain petroleum products, including, e.g., heavy crude oils and residual fuel oils, which include materials referred to as “tars,” “petroleum tars” or “tar sands,” are rich in asphaltenes, metals and resins. The presence of these types of compounds can lead to various problems in the recovery, transportation, treatment and refining of petroleum hydrocarbons, including increased viscosity, formation of stable emulsions, fouling and corrosion. Residual fuel oils are prone to formation of asphaltene-containing precipitates during storage, or when fuel oils from different sources are mixed, especially when one of the oils has a high paraffin content. U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,934 discloses stabilization of asphaltenes in petroleum products using amine-chelate complexes. However, there is a need for improved additives to further enhance stabilization of asphaltenes.
The problem addressed by this invention is to find an improved composition suitable for stabilization of asphaltenes in petroleum products containing asphaltenes.